A source tells San Jose Inside that Kerry Hillis, a former police union flak and current policy aide to county Supervisor Cindy Chavez, had a hand in shaping The Daily Fetch into an aggressive attack blog. (Photo via Facebook)

San Jose Inside has learned that a staffer for county Supervisor Cindy Chavez has been involved in running the anonymous links blog The Daily Fetch.

Kerry Hillis—a policy aide currently on leave from Chavez’ staff who served as communications director for San Jose’s police union and is involved with Dave Cortese’s mayoral campaign—purchased the site from political consultant Jay Rosenthal in late 2012, according to a source with knowledge of the transaction.

It was at this time that the site went from a collection of daily political links, littered with moderately snarky jokes and inside baseball references, to a far more aggressive attack blog reminiscent of the also-anonymous San Jose Revealed, the now-defunct website run by a former member of Chavez’s inner circle.

When reached for comment Tuesday evening, Hillis refused to conduct a phone interview after being informed in a text message that The Fetch would be the topic. Hillis insisted he would only answer questions by email or text. Rather than answer specific questions sent by email, Hillis then responded with a one-paragraph answer that touched on several topics unrelated to the The Fetch. Hillis also did not address a specific question asking him to confirm or deny he purchased the site from Rosenthal.

“I have no interest in responding to an anonymous source,” he wrote. “This is all I have to say on the subject.”

Reached by phone Wednesday morning, Rosenthal would not confirm or deny he sold the site to Hillis. But his previous ownership of the site is not in dispute. Rosenthal, who now lives in Toronto, approached San Jose Inside about purchasing the site in early 2012. He confirmed that the site is not under his current control.

San Jose Inside’s source said that ownership of The Fetch changed hands in late 2012, and with it came a dramatic difference in tone. The site began to aggressively target San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed, Sam Liccardo and supporters of pension reform on the City Council, while leveling little criticism against corruption-plagued officials supported by labor, such as George Shirakawa Jr. and Xavier Campos. The Fetch often uses photoshopped images that depict public figures and journalists it disagrees with in silly if not unflattering positions.

Hillis’ purchase of the site makes sense. He has immediate connections to three of the most powerful limbs of the South Bay political machine. He worked as a communications director for the San Jose Police Officers Association (POA) from August 2010 to October 2013, and many of the The Fetch’s posts over the last two years have hammered away on POA talking points. In the spring of last year, Hillis also worked on the Chavez supervisor campaign, according to his LinkedIn profile. A year ago he left the POA to join Chavez full time at the county.

Hillis is currently on leave from the county and sources say he has been actively working to get Cortese elected. (Side note: On the night of the June primary election, I bumped into Hillis at the Cortese election night party and we had a brief conversation.)

Vince Rocha, a spokesman for Cortese’s mayoral bid, told San Jose Inside on Wednesday that he was not aware if Hillis had any role in the campaign. He said he would find out, but since that time Rocha has not returned multiple follow-up requests for clarification.

Chavez’ office also did not return a call requesting comment on Hillis and his involvement in the site.

In his email to San Jose Inside, Hillis said he has “never been employed by either San Jose mayoral campaign,” but he did not say if he has volunteered or worked for an independent committee supporting Cortese. A receptionist for the POA, which also did not return requests for comment, told San Jose Inside that Hillis is not working for the police union this election cycle.

Presumably in response to a question about his employment with the county, and whether it was appropriate for a public employee to be publishing anonymous attacks that benefit his boss, Hillis wrote: “My personal leave with the County ends in two weeks and I do not have any intention of returning to county employment.”

This isn’t the first time an operative for Chavez, formerly CEO of the South Bay Labor Council, used an anonymous website to attack political opponents and journalists. In 2009, San Jose Inside reported that Philip Bump, a former political director for the SBLC, was an administrator for the site San Jose Revealed, which published particularly vicious attacks, including maps to the home addresses of prosecutor David Pandori and the owner of San Jose Inside.

After the map was published in the latter story, San Jose Inside reported, “the home’s owner, falsely accused of making money through pornography, became the victim of a hate crime that involved property destruction and swastika graffiti.”

The Fetch has not published information as brazen as Revealed, instead focusing on links to articles and public documents. But the rhetoric of the site, along with another mostly anonymous blog created by SBLC officials, The Left Hook, has taken a more poisonous tone as Election Day nears.

The Fetch recently compared an op-ed by Mercury News editorial writer Barbara Marshman to propaganda on the level of Nazi minister Joseph Goebbels.

The site has also routinely depicted San Jose Inside’s staff as pimps, due to an agreement with this site’s parent company to classified ads site Backpage. The coordination between The Fetch and The Left Hook has grown even closer in recent months, as the sites have linked to one another's content more often than the past. The tone in both work is similar.

Two weeks ago, Bob Brownstein applauded Cortese for refusing San Jose Inside’s request for an endorsement interview by mentioning this site in the same breath as the KKK.

65 Comments

Strangely, the tone of this story seems to be that the perceived slant of The Daily Fetch is a bad thing. That doesn’t make any sense, because San Jose Inside is itself a very slanted publication. So Josh, are you also criticizing yourself and your employer? Or is a certain slant only wrong if it slants in the opposite direction?

You write that Hillis is linked to the POA, which you describe as one of the “three most powerful limbs of the South Bay political machine.” I guess you must be using “powerful” in the relative since, as a POA member, I can’t recall any important political races that have come out in out favor in years. Measures V, W and B all passed handily. Reed was easily re-elected. Were those races examples of the POA’s political power?

We all know where the real power has been residing for the last few years in San Jose; with Reed, Liccardo and the big money interests backing them. They have been aided at every step along the way by the blatant bias of The Mercury-News and, to a somewhat lesser extent, that of San Jose Inside. As the last few years have clearly demonstrated, the POA actually has very little power. If Cortese prevails next week, it will be because the voters have seen the truth for themselves.

When the press chooses to protect those in power by presenting only a slanted and biased version of the truth, or simply chooses to omit truth which doesn’t benefit the interests of those it is seeking to protect, it is truly a dangerous time for effective democracy. I’m sorry if The Daily Fetch offends you, because it must be frustrating when everyone isn’t going along with the game plan, but the way news is currently covered in San Jose almost demands a voice like The Daily Fetch, no matter how small that voice is.

So what, if any difference is there between fetch and SJI? Nobody at SJI currently works for an elected official. They take ad money and make endorsements, but nobody works there. That’s the difference between journalism and propaganda.

I guess you and I disagree about what journalism is, or at least ought to be. While a publication is entitled to editorialize about its positions and recommendations, actual news coverage should be fair and unbiased. That hasn’t been the case with San Jose Inside, and especially not the case with The Mercury-News.

Fetch slings insults and is 100 percent slanted to wards Labor / Cortese. Even the biggest SJI critics would say there are negative stories of Liccardo on this site…including one posted yesterday witg him and Madison… fetch is 100 pct Cortese and slinga insults and nicknames at Liccardo….to equivocate SJI ans Fetch defies logic.

Not even close to a push…..even Cortese supporters know SJI and Fetch aren’t close to similar. Liccardo will win the election and this is the last we will hear about Cortese, Campos and corrupt labor. We are turning the damn page.

You thing you failed to address in your article…. Has the fetch lied? You said yourself “… instead focusing on links to articles and public documents.” I have to tell you when someone can backup their stories with links and facts I give that publication much more credibility even if they do take potshot satirical humor at those they are reporting on. Much more credible than the Mercury News and SJI. Both have lost their objectivity. I found it particularly right on the mark when propaganda machine of Barbara Marshman was compared to Joseph Goebbels. Also…..very funny

It is what it is….what is really twisted and scary is that there is very little difference between the propaganda machine of Barbara Marshman (AKAL San Jose Mercury) and the Völkischer Beobachter, one of the newspapers used by Goebbels to promote their version of truth in politics. The Mercury News has been very biased in their editorial comments and articles about Liccardo and Cortese to the point that Marshman lied in her most recent editorial about Liccardo and Cortese. Yes this is the play book from Goebbels. There has never been a negative article about Liccardo and never a positive one about Cortese. I call this propaganda.

BFD…all the anonymous shilling and “snarky”attcks The Fly has done…not to mention the rest of the staff Koehn, Wadsworth Pulcrano, Oliverio and others have done to support Reed and Liccardo and attack City employees especially the police. The Fetch is funny SJI/Metro? You’re just biased, and angry… but who wouldn’t be having to support yourselves off of human trafficking advertising…

I love The Daily Fetch…..why you mad SJI, someone has to balance out your right wing talking points!! I always thought that labor should start their own paper instead of spending a ton of money on political ads…..more bang for the buck!!

No, all we would have to do is tell the truth…..and the mercury news would be forced to be a little more balanced. win win for everyone. Happened down in south county when The Pinnacle newspaper came online but they ended up getting bought out by the local papers parent company and shut down lol sound familiar with all the media conglomerates spreading the right wing message.

The Merc is anything but rightwing…they like Metro have just adopted the operational philosophy of “the enemy of my enemy is my friend.”

Keep in mind the Merc is a union paper…should be pro union right? Except when the “union” is the made up of police (which the Merc has always portrayed as beyond ultra-rightwing if not downright fascist.

Metro/SJI? Don’t know if anyone there is union. Pressmen maybe? No matter…writers and publishers hate those same police.

United by a mutual dislike of police means carte Blanche to oppose things the Merc and SJI might normally support…and don’t you dare challenge them on it. They claim to support Reed and Liccardo for their commitment to “fiscal responsibility?” Where were they when Reagan was running on the same thing?

This is not the reality of news coverage. “News” is whatever people find novel and interesting and someone can get them to listen to.

One of the dumbest ideas that too many people have fixed in their heads is that there is some “unbiased” news source out there that we can all go to for authoritative answers.

Sorry. The mythical universal unbiased news source is a myth.

Every news source — even the holy New York Times — is biased to some degree and at various times and on many topics.

To paraphrase the weighty and erudite Rich Robinson, news (like political rhetoric) is very much a “buyer beware” proposition.

I spent many years yelling at news editors for their biases. I finally gave up. It’s not that this or that editor is biased; they’re ALL biased. Even people who agree with me are biased.

The ultimate solution is NOT to harangue editors into a catatonic state of editorial meekness; the answer is to make editors earn the trust and confidence of news consumers through editorial competency and respect for news consumers.

There used to be a time when newspapers were our only source of information. Scarcity and single source vendor in a market causes a pretty unique thing, people are suddenly compelled to pay for it! What a novel concept! The merc used to have almost every person in San Jose subscribed, and paying monthly dues. You couldn’t drive a block without seeing one of those orange newspaper holders with the black New Times Roman emblazoned across anywhere in this town.

1000’s upon 1000’s of kids used to mount their 2 wheel steeds before dawn, becoming as one senator described the internet, “A series of tubes!” but instead this was a series of Schwinn cruisers, BMX bikes, etc with metal wire baskets attached.The SJ merc then was actually a product of San Jose, for San Jose. It was beholden to it’s subscribers, because it was them, not the ads that brought in the revenue.

What happens though when anyone can publish their thoughts? The information you could once charge a premium for loses value. Why pay you when this guy on this “internet” thing gives me the same thing for free? You cut from the bottom. There are adults, with cars, willing to work for way less than these kids! Then they start taking ads from almost anyone. It’s just ads.

Finally it goes from ads, to your advertisers saying, “Gee, I really love advertising my new home development, but you gotta support that prop to save the horny speckled butterfly, otherwise it can’t be built”

We never really had this level of sensationalizing, scandal, or hit pieces from our news sources until now.

> We never really had this level of sensationalizing, scandal, or hit pieces from our news sources until now.

A vast, and interesting subject.

I trace the beginning of politics back to the philosophical contest between Socrates and the Sophist school of philosophy.

Socrates is widely viewed as the father of the scientific method. Basically, he asked the question: “What is true?” and never accepted that he had the final answer. When someone gave him an answer, he asked the question again to see if someone else had a better answer.

The Sophists studied rhetoric, and became experts and winning arguments through “narrative”. If I can get more people to believe my story, than it must be more true than the other guys story.

What people understand as “news” today, is just “narrative”.

Rich plutocrats buy newspapers in order to get their narrative into the faces of more people than the other guy.

Here’s a thought experiment:

Think of a complex topic with many, many elements and issues: global warming.

Hire the two best, most impartial, unbiased journalists in the world. Ask them to study the subject in detail and write a comprehensive article.

An all likelihood, the articles would include different facts, different perspectives, rely on different experts, and might even have different conclusions.

Which one is true?

Is one biased and the other not biased?

My point is, this has ALWAYS been true. There are different ways to tell a story, and different story tellers will tell stories differently.

The rich plutocrats who owned the handful of newspapers before the internet weren’t telling the “truth”, they were just telling the stories in ways that were pleasing to themselves. It only seemed like the truth, because there were no Socrates’s to ask follow up questions.

Today, the internet has given us a lot more Socrates’s.

But then, some Socrates’s are smarter than other Socrates’s and ask better questions.

The Fetch anonymously adds funny photoshoped pictures and snarky editorial comments to links that take readers to actual articles on other information outlets…if Koehn can’t see that and report that factually then he is falling short of the mark.

“The Fly” and “Silicon Valley NewsRoom” Not very common names are they? Why are their sometimes factually challenged NEWS – GOSSIP articles published anonymously on SJI? Isnt that exactly what Koehn is accusing The Fetch of doing ? Pot meet Kettle? No, the pot is the kettle at SJI…

You’re so wrong. The fetch is awesome! They continually scoop the Merc and SJI. The dig up the truth on Reed and that big liar Licarrdo. You just don’t like the fetch cause you’re a sissy. I for one, like SJI as well. Good articles, but the fetch is way better. And I love the cartoons of that idiot Reed and his fat friend Constant.

When the demented, self-righteous zealots of the Prop. 8 campaign began showing up in numbers at the homes of California residents who’d legally contributed in opposition to the measure the intention was clear: suppress opposition by threatening the physical safety of your opponents and instilling in them fear of personal ruination (by way of a smear campaign). It was just one more example of an immoral but legal terror tactic that’s become a common tool of the American left.

This interest in who is behind the Daily Fetch is no different, and no less alarming.

First of all, what is the Fetch? It’s a blog, the high tech equivalent of a private citizen standing on a street corner handing out leaflets to any passerby who’ll take one. That leafleteer’s identity, no matter how objectionable his message, is as immaterial as is the identity of anyone legally engaging in free speech.

Second, who will be served by SJI outing the man behind the Fetch? Will it be his readers? Hardly. Anyone reading it is there for the content, not for the resume of its author. Those who find its content agreeable can keep reading, those who don’t can go elsewhere. It certainly can’t be those who’ve never visited the site. The only possible beneficiaries will be those supporting opposing agendas, and their benefit is dependent upon that outed person having so much to lose (future employment opportunities, social standing, etc.) that he shuts down his blog or tones-down his rhetoric.

We should all ask ourselves this: if the posts on the Fetch are so objectionable why don’t those objecting use their resources to refute its content and destroy whatever credibility the site has garnered? Make a mockery of it. Could the reason be that they can’t refute its content? That the Fetch is the more accurate outlet? Plausible, of course. But might they argue that refuting it would only give it the public exposure it covets? Not plausible, given their willingness to engage it in an attempt to unnerve its publisher.

Both SJI and the Merc promote agendas in opposition to that of the Fetch and have far more resources to apply in support of their politics. But I guess that’s not enough. I guess both believe that having the power to suppress an opponent, no matter how low one must sink to do so, makes doing so mandatory. That is, after all, the liberal, enlightened way.

> When the demented, self-righteous zealots of the Prop. 8 campaign began showing up in numbers at the homes of California residents who’d legally contributed in opposition to the measure the intention was clear: suppress opposition by threatening self-righteous zealots of the Prop. 8 campaign and instilling in them fear of personal ruination (by way of a smear campaign).

Can you cite any instances where “self-righteous zealots of the Prop. 8 campaign” threatened ” the physical safety of opponents?

We are all aware of the firing of Brendan Eich for the political correctness crime of contributing to the Prop 8 campaign, but your claim looks like a classic example of “projection”; you are “projecting” a wished for behavior onto your political enemies.

Is it too high a standard to expect police officers and their supporters to report only “the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?”

I urge you.. Please begin citing and refuting the truths revealed through articles linked on The Fetch? Or the “FBI” snippets they post?

You can’t. You won’t, and it is not for a lack of ability.

Unfortunately, due to the sad state of journalistic integrity here in San Jose, a small privately operated blog is the only place where real, (factually supported, not Reed style stat juking) truth can be found..

Based upon nothing more than what you have read and how it has been supported, who would you trust? Barb Marshman or whoever is writing The Fetch?

I think this is really about free speech. I don’t really care who owns which blog. I don’t ever take any real stalk in anything I read or hear any more. If I don’t see it with my own eyes, hear it from the source, I pretty much take what is said or written with a grain of salt.

Spare me your sophomoric psychobabble analysis… having angry strangers showing up at one’s home is typically perceived as threatening behavior. Of course, if you question such as response as being normal, why don’t you provide those of us who think so little of you with your home address today and then tell us tomorrow how peacefully you slept the night.

By the way, since you have implied that I’ve lied on this site, how about posting an example… lest I and others conclude that it is you that is a liar.

Kathleen I think you might mind if there was a blogger who wrote lies about you and called your employer as a “reporter’ for a blog asking questions about you and inferring crap about who you are, in essence making your life miserable and putting your job in jeopardy. That’s what some “friends” of SJI do and have done extensively in the City of Santa Clara. let’s face it this publication is a hack, just like the Fetch is. The half truths in this publication are no better than the National Inquirer, I can’t wait for the day they tell us Cortese spent time on an Alien space ship above San Jose. Oh wait that will never happen because this is a reputable publication with balanced and real reporting, where they interview all stake holders……………. NOT

PANTSONFIRE- That HAS happened to me numerous times. I simply confronted the author, and the misleading information publicity. I agree with you that it is wrong, frustrating, and unfair, but people are going to believe what they want to believe regardless of the facts.

People who want to know the truth will ask you for your side, those who enjoy gossip will spread the untruths around. Sad but true~

Ha anonymous blog for an anonymous person…..It is too bad you were outed, however I am glad you have created your own website instead of trolling this one too much :). You are just anonymous for now and then after the election you will appear in all your glory to confirm that you are indeed being the Bay Area’s version of The Onion. Well played, Sir!

You have the audacity to call someone a troll? Have you ever, once, offered anything of merit to any discussion you’ve made the poor decision of hitting reply to?

BTW, merit is not regurgitating Ragan Heninger’s p.r. lines..

Tomorrow as the election is going on, I urge you to read the Fetch and spend a few minutes trying to refute the facts you are presented with. You will likely become frustrated, begin cussing aloud, and go back to work preparing the party favors for Sam’s concession/victory party.

Oh Steve, I cannot wait until this election is over…..as you accuse me of spouting off Liccardo campaign lines, where has been your critique of those whon do the same for Cortese??? Of course you don’t criticize those you agree with. You have not been substantive, you just stick up for unions and corrupt candidates without an real rationale for your support.

Looking forward to turning the page on the Cortese and Campos era in San Jose…..as well as the Reed era too. Sam is MUCH more inclusive than Reed, however I would rather have the mayor’s endorsement than not have it. Who they heck would support someone who enthusiastically endorsed Xavier Campos reelection bid THIS YEAR and still has Xavier campaign for him????

For a long time they were Monday through Friday with shorter posts. In recent months are only 2-3 days week. But with longer posts. I spotlight read to much in to it. Heck SJI hasn’t speed the Monday morning preview of tomorrow’s council meeting yet – at lady not in the usual format. 10:27 am Monday 11/3/2014

Cancel that I had scroll down on the mobile website to see the A’s are again the priority in a City were crime IS up and police staffing is way down along with the ability for all City Departments to provide services we are paying for.

The Fetch format is not much different than the Drudgereport…just links to real articles (sometimes even SJI articles , thanks for boosting traffic! ) enhanced with editorial comments and sometimes funny photoshoped pictures…. whas the big deal Josh?

Wow…bubble need some calming meds. Since when has the word “retired” meant that you curl up on some Hospital bed, under a ventilation tent and wait to die? I dont recall anyone else on the face of the planet being told that they are not allowed to work somewhere else, get the perks of employment (besides the usual obscene corporate paycheck), and be forced to live within the city limits of where they were employed.
Clean your glasses, you cant see the truth through them anymore.